Hot water heating control device



Julie 1 8- w. o. LUM

V I HOT WATER HEATING CONTROL DEVICEv Original Filed July 6, 193a FiglQ IDVhtO'Y': Walter y is Attorney.

Patented June 21, 1938 PATEN'l orrlca amuse I HOT WATER HEATING CONTROL DEVICE Walter 0. Burn, West Caldwell,\N. J., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Original application July 6, 1933, Serial No.

Divided and this applica 24,1936, Serial No. 70,603

tion March 2 Claims (01. 103-87) This application is a division of my prior application, Serial No. 679,172, filed July 6, 1933, and relating toheating systems.-

The present invention'relates to an improved form of hot water heating control device, particularly' adapted for use in thermostatically controlled hot water house heating systems, although the invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

The principal object is to provide an improved form of electrically operated circulation control unit especially constructed for connection into the supply main of a hot water heating system for insuring positive and rapid circulation of the hot water when heating is required and for preventing circulation when heating is not required.

It is a further object to provide an improved form of hot water circulation control unit w ich may be electricallyfoperated under the control culation there through. The various. 'advantageous features will be more fully understood from the following description of the accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment thereof. Fig. 1 shows the improved hot water. circulation control device of the present invention connected in a hot :water heating' system of the improved type disclosed ininy above mentioned prior application. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the detailed construction of the improved controlunit and Fig'. 31s a perspec tive view showing the form of the pump impeller. In the hot water heating system shown diagrammatically"in Fig. 1, the, hot water is circulated through the room heating radiator ill from the hot water oil burner boiler furnace v| l. The boiler furnace ii is shown as of the .type

6 described and claimed in Patent 1,995,185 a1- though the present invention maybe used with any other type of hot water boiler furnace -de-' sired. The improved hot water circulation control device I2" is connected in the 'pipe main i8 of the heating system extending from the top. of the boiler furnace II. The circulation control unit i2 is operated by means Of the electric motor ll under the control of the room thermostatic switch It. f The improved construction of the vflow control unit I2 is shown in Fig. 2. The tubular casing is formedto house the check valve 2| and the impeller pump 22 with the operating motor resiliently suspended from the casing 28 and. yieldingly connected to drive the impeller pump 22. The casing 20 is provided with the flanges 23 at the end thereof so that the control unit may be readily mounted by means of the cooperating flanges 24 in the hot water pipe main l3.

This permits the flow control unit to be easily removed for inspection or repair or'another unitsubstituted therefor without seriously disturbing the pipe connections.

' e check valve 2| operates about the pivot .25 in cooperating relation with the valve seat 28 which is preferably mounted at an angle in the tubular casing 20, as shown. A restricted air bleder passage 21 permits air-entrapped in the hot water system to pass when the check valve 2| is closed. The petcock 28 is provided for releasing the entrapped air from the system. The removable cover plate 29 provides 'access to the check valve 2| and carries the adjustable stop 38 which determines the extent to which the check valve 2| may be opened and hence the rate of circulation through the hot water system.

Thetubular casing 20 is provided with an inner dividing wall extending substantially longitudinally and horizontally ofthe casing and provided with the opening 38' therethrough for forming the inlet of the impeller pump housing. The-impeller of the pump,, as more clearly shown in Fig"; 3, is provided with a hub 81 for mounting upon the upper end of the pump shaft 38 and has the three pump blades 88 joined at their" lower sides to the annular shroud 40. The

water passes upwardly through the centralopening formed in the shroud 40 and is forced out radially bythe blades 88. A restricted air bleeder passage -4 I prevents acc pump housing; a v A support or bearing bracket 85 carries the end thrust bushings for the pump shaft 38. This bushing bracket together with the motor support 4] are fastened to the casing 28 by means of the bolts I 48. .To hold the pump impeller 22 in position and provide a water-tight seal for the shaft 38, a yielding bellows member 80 is joined .to a sealing end thrust washer 8|. The spring 83 forces the sealing washer 8| against the hearing shoulder 8'4 mounted on the shaft 38 so as umulation of air in the to bias the shaft 38 vertically upwardly and thereby maintain the impeller 22 in proper operating position in its housing. This at the same time provides a water-tight seal so that any water which may find its way into the interior of the bearing bracket 45 will be prevented from passing to the inside of the bellows member. A cap is screwed on the bottom end of the support 45 to secure the bellows member 50 in place.

The electric driving motor I! is resiliently suspended from the motor supporting bracket 41. For this purpose the motor is secured to a supporting ring which has mounted thereon the studs 6 I. The motor may be removably mounted on the floating ring 62 by having a bayonet slot connection between the ring Biand the studs 6!, for example, whereby the motor may be readily released from the floating ring 62. The floating ring 62 is supported .by cushion members having the resilient portions 63 fastened to elements 54 and and held in place by the screwthreaded nuts 65 and 61. Thus one end of the resilient member 63 is supported by the motor support 41 and in turn supports the floating ring 62. This cushioned support prevents motor vibration from being transmitted to the heating piping system. The impeller pump preferably is driven through a flexible coupling 10 which is' shown as of the type using resilient material interposed between solid material for taking up torque variations to prevent transmission of noise and vibration to the heating system when the motor I1 is energized to operate the pump.

The flow control unit 12 is so connected in the hot water pipe main I3 that thermal siphon circulation of the hot water tends to flow from left to right through the casing, 20. Thus, it will be seen that the normal tendency is to maintain the check valve 2| closed when the pump is not being operated. The water is circulated through the casing 20 from right to left when the impeller pump is operated,.the check valve 2| opening in response to the pressure differential created by the pump.

The improved flow control device of the present invention may be operated in a heating system such as shown in Fig; 1 in the following manner although it may be used in other ways, if desired. when heat is called for by closing of the room thermostat l4, the electromagnetic switch I5 is energized thereby completing the energizing circuit for both the water circulating motor I1 and the oil burner operating motor II. This causes fuel to be supplied to the combustion chamber of the furnace ii and heat to be transferred from the products of combustion to the water in the boiler. The pump operates to circulate the hot water through the heating system in a direction counter to the normal thermosyphon flow of the heating medium. In case a separate'check valve I2 is used in the return line of the hot, water heating system as shown in Fig. 1, it will be understood that the valve 12 is so connected as to open against its biasto permit circulation whenever the circulating pump 22 is operated. When suflicient heat has been supplied by means of the radiator iii, the room thermostat l4 opens the energizing circuit of the electromagnetic switch i5 which in turn opens the circuit to the circulator motor I! and the oil burner motor 1i.

In order that the water in the boiler furnace 1 may be always maintained at a high temperature to provide proper heating of the domestic hot water heating coil 13 and to insure a reserve supply of heated water so that the hotwater heating system can be supplied with hot water as soon as the pump is put into operation, a. suitable thermostatic switch 14 is provided for separately starting operation of the oil burner motor ll whenever the temperature of the water in the boiler furnace falls below a predetermined value. This is particularly advantageous in providing for an adequate supply of domestic hot water both in summer and in winter even through the room thermostat l4 may not cause operation of either the water circulating motor I! or the oil burner motor H during the summer time.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A control device for a hot water heating system comprising a horizontal tubular casing provided at each end with means for connecting the casing'in the hot water piping system and having adjacent one end thereof a horizontally extending dividing wall with an opening therethrough opposite an opening in the bottom wall of the casing to form a centrifugal pump housing and adjacent the other end thereof a check valve housing, a check valve movably mounted in said valve housing and biased to the closed position, a pump shaft having a bearing bracket mounted in and sealing the opening in the bottom wall of said casing and provided with spring thrust bearing sealing means biasing the shaft vertically upward into said casing in predetermined alignment with said opening in said dividing wall, an impeller mounted on the upper end of said shaft for forcing circulation of the hot water through said opening to open said valve against its bias, a motor supporting bracket mounted on said bearing bracket and extending downwardly from said bearing bracket, and an electric 'motor suspended from said support and connected with the lower end of said shaft for driving said impeller.

2. .A circulation control unit for a hot water heating system comprising a horizontal tubular casing having a centrifugal pump housing with ing a pair of restricted air bleeder passages ex-' tending inside said casing and adjacent the upper wall thereof, one through said pump housing and the other through said check valve housing for passing air through said casing independently of the operation of said impeller and said check valve.

WALTER. O. LUM. 

